Pages

Thursday, 20 November 2014

MOMBASA MOSQUES CLOSED AS POLICE SHOOTS TWO

Authorities have shut down two more
mosques in Mombasa in a widening crackdown on institutions suspected to be
breeding grounds for terrorists. The crackdown, which began on Monday morning,
continued yesterday with police storming Swafaa Mosque in Kisauni at about 3am.
Police said a machete-wielding man was arrested in the mosque, while others who
were with him fled through a back door. Another mosques, also in Kisauni, was
also shut down yesterday. The indefinite closures of places of worship came
only a day after the Government announced the closure of Musa and Sakina
mosques in Majengo. Weekly Citizen has learnt the mosques will be closed
indefinitely. A senior police officer said the mosques were now crime scenes
and would only be reopened once "responsible" committees are put in
place to manage them. Swafaa's link with extremists was exposed on October 24
this year when radical islamist youths seized it and forced out moderate imam
Sheikh Hassan Juma Rashid who later resigned. The closure of Mina and Swafaa
mosques was announced by Kisauni OCPD Richard Ngatia. According to the police,
the raid on Swafaa in the heavily populated Kisauni yielded a hand grenade,
machete and a file (for sharpening), seven petrol bombs, "booster for
accelerating explosions", pellets, bomb detonator and two rounds of 9mm
bullets. Other items recovered include literature expressing hatred for media
and terrorist training material. Ngatia said a man with a knife and a machete
was seized in the Swafaa raid where no one was hurt. He further said another
109 people who were arrested in a subsequent swoop yesterday will be vetted and
those found innocent released. See Also: Police raid Swafaa Mosque, recover
assorted weapons Responsible persons ''The mosques remain scenes of crime.
Nobody should interfere with them for now,'' said Ngatia, adding that the
Government wants mosques to set up committees of elders and responsible persons
who police liaise with. ''We do not want to deal with youths who we believe are
not accountable,'' he stated. During the operation, a section of the Old
Malindi Road was cleared of traffic and motorists had to use other routes to
reach their destinations